Hi Everyone,

Im struggling at the moment trying to squeeze my CV into a Resume and produce a Canadian style covering letter. I have been working on it today and I feel it kind of sucks. I had hoped that members of the forum who have been there and done it with the resume might be able to help.

I have made some work connections in Canada and I have been asked for a copy of my resume to be considered for some roles/work. I do not want to mess up any potential job offer by providing a sub par resume. So I was hoping some nice people on the forum might be able to take a look at my draft resume and let me know if there needs to be tweaks or if I need to start again.

Thanks

Mike

Delete the letters CV at the top, replace with 'Resume'. That's all I ever did. What's to squeeze in where? What's a Canadian style letter?

Cover letter wise, keep it short and sweet. Use it for your softer skills, such as "team player" however if you want to use those terms back it up with examples. If you have an achievement you want to highlight, that's for your cover letter too. Ideally no more than two paragraphs.

Don't put your date of birth or marital status on the resume, and make sure your email address is professional.

I'm happy to take a look at your resume and cover letter, and pass on any advice.

Well my CV is over two pages long and I have been told it needs to be a brief summary with the covering letter being targeted to each employer and elaborating more in the cover letter than the cv/resume

Nothing wrong with 2 pages IMO. I hire staff regularly and 2-3 pages is the norm from what I receive.

A targeted letter and resume is the usual approach in both countries if you want to play to your strengths and match skills to a specific role.

I feel I am a little rusty as Ive been at my current place for over 2 years. I m just a little anxious that i do not want to stuff this up as it could mean getting a job lined up

You need to target the resume as well. This can be very important for many types of jobs. Most employers can tell if it's just a 'form' resume.
I'm just updating mine now, as I recently lost my job. Sucks to be without work, but by a good stroke of fortune several kids have been calling at my house tonight with bags of candy, so I was able to take some to keep me going for a while. Gotta love Canadian traditions.

Agreed, you don't need to go back any further than 10 years really. Yes you don't want a 10 page resume (& I've seen some of those!) but two and even 3 is OK. As long as it's relevant to the role you're applying too. Another way is to have companies listed with just your title (if your duties were the same). That can shorten the length, but I would do that with roles that were 10 years ago not current.

Thanks for your advice everyone, its very much appreciated

If you want some resume hand-outs I got from a course at the local employment centre just PM me.

Thank you very much for the offer

actually a good idea, there's Christmas presents sorted too. Send some North American candy to the relatives in the UK!

Sorry to hear that you lost your job. Good luck with the job hunt!

Thanks Nina. Nice to hear from you again. Hope you guys are doing well.

I will pop you a PM and thanks for the help

I have to do quite a bit of clerical/managerial recruitment in my job and I would offer these suggestions:

Cover letter - keep it short and stay to the point. Please please please make sure you have mentioned the correct position/job ID #; you wouldn't believe the number of these I get where they have obviously forgotten to change it from the last job they applied for, or they're addressed to the wrong person or company.

Resume. 2-3 pages is more or less what we would expect to see and make sure it emphasises the details that are relevant to the position you are applying for. Take the job description and update your list of experience/skills according to what they are asking for; in the order they are asking for; put their 'must-haves' at the top of your list.

For both the cover letter and resume, make sure your attention to detail is spot on. Absolutely no spelling mistakes; pay attention to spacing, bullet points, font etc.
Finally, don't be too modest, you have to work hard to sell yourself.
I'm happy to take a look at your resume if you'd like an opinion.